The Small Moments We Shared
by Sethana
Summary: They may be short and fleeting, but it was enough for them to treasure each one of it.
1. Encounter

The day was not starting out so good.

That was all Ann could think of as she ran from the very much opened walkway to the nearest shop awning she could find, the previously small drizzle of rain turning out into countless sharp needles that hit anything in its wake, including her. All the while, she chided herself for forgetting to watch the morning forecast, or at the very least took a glance of it. While it was rare to rain in the early morning, she had seemed to forget that it was currently the spring season, and rain was very eager to show its water self after months of snow.

She stepped under the awning, appreciating the cover it gave from the rain, and removed her hood to shook her hair from any water droplets, fully aware of the stare from the fellow Shujin student beside her. She bit down the instinct to flee at the stare, and instead ignore it in favor of watching the rain washing down on every surface it could reach. So long as he didn't do anything unfavorable to her, she could endure it and pretend it never happened. And she wished that that was what would happen- nothing. She would rather have the morning not turning south any more than it already did. The only thing that could top the person beside her being a potential creep was Kamoshida suddenly appearing- stop, no need to jinx herself.

The silence that befall the two students seeking refugee under the awning could be described as awkward. Or unsureness, she didn't know. (She was pretty sure that that was not a word. Then again, she didn't have complete control of her wayward thoughts.) But waiting in awkward silence was times better than awkward conversation, so she would take what she could get.

"Umm," A soft voice sounded from her right, hesitation and a touch of fear clear in them.

She resisted the urge to take a sharp intake of breath. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was thinking rudely. She blamed it on the fact that school had started again, and not being able to get her daily morning coffee. Especially the latter. Working as a part-time model that could be called for work at any time would eventually turn you into a coffee addict, one way or another. Turning her head to the side with a smile ready at her lips, she answered, "Yes?"

It was true that she didn't get a good look of the boy when she rushed to the spot beside him, only managing to caught a glimpse of a male Shujin uniform and black hair, but she did not expect to see an awfully normal looking boy wearing a ridiculously large round glasses looking at her with wide eyes that somehow had a touch of child-like innocence in them.

Her smile almost slipped and gave way to pleasant surprise, but thankfully, she managed to keep it in its place. He returned her smile with one of his own, even giving a tiny sheepish sound, and she suddenly feel not so grumpy anymore. "I'm just wondering," He started slowly and softly, as if not sure of what he really wanted to say. "you're a Shujin student, right? So, can you maybe, tell me what Shujin is like?" Wait, how could his voice be so soft?

She blinked at the question and the overly polite tone he spoke in (and also to her abrupt thought that _no one need to know about_ ), but answered his question nonetheless once it dawned on her that he was a new student. She also blatantly ignored the warm embarrassment crawling at her neck. "Oh! Are you a transfer student?" A nod from said transfer student answered her. "I see. Well, welcome to Shujin!.. I guess. We're not really at the school yet, but an early greeting is not bad, right?" She shrugged sheepishly, most of the defenses that she raised beforehand retreating back down, but not completely. The person before her was a newcomer after all, and he hadn't done anything that deserve any hostility from her. Yet. The least she could do was being a touch friendly to him.

The new student's posture relaxed slightly, his smile becoming more genuine. She instantly felt bad for her previous negative thoughts. "Thanks." He said with that same expression. Okay, it was not fair to make someone feel so bad with just looking at them like that. Or maybe it was.

Ann inwardly berate herself and continued with her explanation. She seriously need to learn to focus on one thing at a time and not let her thoughts run wild. "Shujin is..well, it's just like any other high school. Nothing much really stood out from it except for its pretty good grades, and the sports too now, I guess.." She tried to hide the wince on her face, she really did, but the person across her seemed to notice it anyway. "The students are just like any other teenagers on their phase. The teachers are average, though some of them _are_ unique. Like one teacher always throw chalks at students who doesn't pay attention, and one always smile creepily with half lidded eyes- don't worry, he's not a harasser, I promise you- but not so weird like wearing a Sengoku Era war helm all the time or dressing Ancient Egypt style. Just normal kind of weird. Overall, Shujin is your everyday high school." She finished with a small shrug, hoping that her quick and spur of the moment explanation could meet his expectation. And where did she come up with those examples, she didn't know.

The transfer student blinked owlishly in reply, face set in a surprised expression. Until slowly a smile, unlike the small one that he gave her before, bloomed on his face. She stared stupidly as he regarded her with a warm look. "Thank you for the explanation. I appreciated it."

His words were still as politely constructed, but something about the way he said it was utterly different. And just like that, as if he put a spell on her, she felt an odd desire to know him more. To know the person behind the overly polite and soft spoken persona he put up. It was merely a small tug, but one that she somehow couldn't ignore. "Don't worry, it's just a quick ramble, nothing to be thankful for." She rubbed her arm absentmindedly, a sign of self consciousness on her part.

The transfer student's smile widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a car's honk. The two of them turned around to see a white sedan parked on the side of the road. The cold claws of dread sink itself into her. She recognized that car everywhere. As the passenger's seat window rolled down to reveal her most hated man on earth, she inwardly chuckled with dark amusement. It looked like she really jinxed herself.

Kamoshida called out to her, saying something about giving her a ride or she'd be late, she couldn't care less. Turning her head toward the confused transfer student that had been her pleasant company for a short moment, she gave him a forced smile, somehow knowing that he had seen right through it. "Well then, I'll be going ahead. Don't get lost on the way, okay? You don't want to be late for the first day."

He nodded silently, the look in his eyes said that he wanted to say something, but held himself back. She didn't know whether to be grateful or disappointed. Giving him one last farewell, she finally ducked out of the awning with a great feeling of reluctance and regret, but not once did she look back. She knew that if she refused the offer, Kamoshida might do something drastic, especially to the transfer student- which he did not deserve in the slightest. Especially if it was from her selfishness.

And as she sat down on the passenger seat, the familiar disgust of herself enveloping her, she realized that she hadn't ask for the transfer student's name, nor introduced herself. "Oh well." She allowed herself to whisper quietly, "maybe we'll meet again."

* * *

 **(I do not live in a country with four seasons, so please excuse me for any mistakes that I made.)**

 **Hello and welcome dear readers, to my Akirann fic that I finally write after so long! Seeing as there are rarely any stories dedicated to this pairing these days, and I've been craving for them for quite some time, I thought, why not do it? And voila, a story from me that is actually quite decent in my eyes. But the reason why I put this up is not just to contribute to the fandom, it's also to get a feedback from all of you who read this! So please, could you spare some time to tell me how I did in the review? It would be really appreciated, and greatly helped me in writing next chapter.**

 **So, drop some words in the comments, kay? :)**

 **And information~ This is a short stories collection that connects with each other. So like, a connected drabble? Except it's way over drabble's limit. Depending on the ideas really.**


	2. Acquaintances

**I forgot to say it last chapter- but please forgive me for any ooc ness. Tell me if there are any (which I'm sure there are)!**

* * *

Ann sighed softly, finger tracing the neatly folded napkin on the table. The ice in her water had already melted, filling it to the brim of the glass, with droplets slowly sliding down the side. Idly, she wandered how she came to be in this position; sitting across the infamous transfer student of Shujin in one of Big Bang Burger's booth, waiting in silence for either one of them to start. Then her mind strayed back to the call she received an hour ago, and she was immediately reminded of the reason.

Right, it was because Akira Kurusu had witnessed her shameful breakdown in front of the station after her argument with Kamoshida.

She resisted the urge to cover her face and slam her head against the table from embarrassment. She had already lost enough face in front of Kurusu, after all. No need to add to the pile even more.

The silence that enveloped them was a reminder of their encounter; full of awkwardness and unsureness. Except, this time it was laced with a certain tenseness in the air. And a solemn feel to it that kept them aware of the matter at hand.

She felt rather than heard the moment Kurusu inhaled deeply. Soon after, his ever soft voice followed. "Takamaki,"

 _So it finally started_. She gave a quiet noncommittal hum.

Kurusu appeared to be conflicted, as if he didn't want to force her to confess of what exactly transpired, but needed her to do it. Resulting in him to be caught in between. "At the station square.."

She bit her lip. The memory too freshly etched in her mind. "Yeah, I'm sorry. For breaking down and.." She trailed off, wincing as she mentally went through the moment again. "..running off like that."

Kurusu merely smiled, an understanding glint in his dark eyes. "It's okay." He promptly fell silent again. The constant fidget of his arms was her only clue that he was thinking of what to say next. He then straightened himself, and she mentally prepared herself as much as she could in the short pause before he spoke. "It was Kamoshida, isn't it?"

Straight to the point. Then again, he needed to. Because she wasn't even sure if she would say it first- or at all.

She huffed. "That obvious, huh."

His expression turned into an apologetic grimace."You did say some words that clued it in."

 _"And you call yourself a teacher!?"_

"I guess I did.." Ann leaned forward on the table, one hand absentmindedly tugging at the strands of her hair. "But you're right. It was Kamoshida on the line. And- he.." She stifled the incoming sob that tried to tore its way from her throat. She might be used to be treated like a bitch by the society, but to the point where she was thought to be an easy woman to get into bed? It was a deep insult to her pride and her worth as a human being.

Kurusu waited patiently for her to find her bearing. She didn't even know why she was telling him this. True, he saw her breakdown. He even chased her into the station when he could just easily walk away ( _like so many others have done_ ). But he didn't. He kept being stubborn and forced his way in. And it seemed like he wouldn't be satisfied until she spilled her reason- regardless of the fact that they both barely knew each other. How he managed to came to the conclusion that she was worth his time to help was beyond her.

(She was both frustrated and touched by his concern.)

Although, confiding in someone who had a semblance of understanding of her condition wouldn't be so bad. She knew that keeping it to herself wouldn't do any good, for she had a habit to self explode when left too long with her own overloaded mind as sole company. Shiho had even declared that, as the number one preventive, she must find anyone to talk to about her problems- no matter what.

The memory stabbed at her heart. When was the last time she had spoken normally with Shiho without any worry in the air? Just two teenagers, talking about anything that interest them? She remembered the cheerful grin Shiho always gave her whenever the two of them were having fun. The last time that grin had been truly genuine from the bottom of the girl's heart was-

-before she joined Shujin Academy's volleyball team.

She exhaled slowly, mentally counting backwards from ten. Dwelling on her answer any longer only served to torture her further. The only option left was to tackle it head on. So she bit her inner cheek, hard, and spat out the words in one quick sentence. "He wanted me to come to his house right now or Shiho will lose her starting position."

Silence. Except for the sharp intake of breath from Kurusu's direction- nothing else was said. She continued, chuckling dryly. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"He.." Kurusu whispered. She could detect the disbelief and start of boiling anger in it.

Closing her eyes, she nodded. Not wanting to look at him in fear that she'd burst into tears when she saw those gentle orbs trying to comfort her, despite the anger beneath that was directed at someone far away from them. "This is why I always avoided giving him my number. I knew that eventually, something like this would happen. Especially given our.." One-sided relationship fueled by lust? That was also based on an underlying threat? The mere thought of it made her want to vomit. To think that she, no matter how reluctantly, let that damned man approach her. But, she would endure it for as long as she had to. No matter how dirty she felt. _She had to._ "I don't know what to do."

There it was. The painful admittance. Blurted out to a person that she had only known for roughly two days. What was wrong with her?

"What do _you_ want to do?" The question snapped her back into attention. She stared wide eyed as Kurusu gave her a piercingly serious look. She would lie if she said that it didn't scare her.

She wasn't sure if it was her own overwhelming emotion or his piercing look that made her answer him. "I, I just.. want all this to end. For Kamoshida to forget all this ever happened. For Shiho to- to stop suffering.." Her voice wavered. The sobs that she had been suppressing slipped out through the cracks in her defenses. "But I know that's impossible. Maybe if he had a sudden change of personality, it could. And that'll never happen."

Hopelessness. One of the emotions that she had befriended closely to. It was almost daily occurrences for her to be drowned in that feeling. So why did she feel so vulnerable when it happened at that time?

She didn't think much when Kurusu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. Unaware of the inner crisis going on inside him, for she was too consumed in her own thoughts.

"S-sorry," She wiped the tears gathering in her eyes. She didn't remember when she started crying. "I ended up saying those things to you."

"Don't worry about it." Kurusu shook his head stiffly. "You need to let them out eventually."

She cracked a small smile at that. "Thank you." _For reaching out to me when no one else did. For willingly listening to my problem._ "You know.. you're not as bad as the rumors say."

"Rumors?" He blinked, not seeming to understand for a split second, before understanding dawned on him.

"Actually, scratch that. You're _nothing_ like in the rumors. They say that you're, well, pretty bad. But you're obviously the exact opposite of that." Because if you weren't, then you wouldn't be here right now. "Well, I shouldn't trust rumors anyway."

Kurusu tilted his head to the side. "Hmm, I don't know.." He put his arm on the table. His tense expression melted away to reveal a slightly nonchalant look. She should've seen that coming, really. The corners of his lips twitched up, how did she not notice it? "I think I'm pretty bad to the bone."

A disbelieved blink. Once, twice, thrice. Then she snorted. Very unladylike, she might add. "Wh-wha?" She giggled, one hand covering her mouth and nose. "I-Is that a joke?" His wide grin was all she needed as an answer, and she doubled over. She laughed away her worries, enjoying the warm feeling that engulfed her. Just like that, the negativity surrounding her dissipated. Some of it was still there, lingering in the back of her mind, but nothing that she hadn't become used to after a year of dealing with it.

"Okay, okay." She finally said as she calmed down. She could've let it off, but- "That was actually kinda bad."

"Ouch," He closed one eye with a mock-hurt expression. "so blunt."

Who knew that Kurusu liked making jokes? She couldn't deny that it was pleasing to know that part of him though.

She sighed contently, looking at him with gratitude. "Thanks, Kurusu. For everything."

"You don't need to thank me." He shook his head. "I didn't do anything."

"Just accept it, okay?" Before she could launch into a long explanation of why he was _so wrong_ , her phone buzzed in her blazer's pocket, a reminder that she had set to catch the train on time. Sighing to herself, she slowly rose from her seat, taking her glass of water that remained full until the end. "Well, I need to go." As much as she loved to stay, she knew it couldn't last forever. Besides, she still had her own matter that she needed to resolved by herself.

"Then, see you tomorrow." Kurusu said simply. "Take care."

"See you." She echoed, smiling at him before walking away, feeling significantly lighter than before.

Friends might be pushing at their relationship, but they weren't exactly strangers anymore. Maybe she could safely say that they were both acquaintances.

* * *

Akira watched as Takamaki disappeared around the corner, silently pulling out his phone that had been receiving several notifications. He then unlocked the device and immediately went into the IM app, tapping at the latest messages he received.

 **Ryuji: Hey**

 **Ryuji: You there?**

 **Ryuji: Sorry, I've just been thinking a lot about what that cat said**

 **Ryuji: ...**

 **Ryuji: What do you think we should do?**

He quickly typed in his response and hit the send button.

 **Akira: We'll talk during lunch**

That was what he said, but deep down, he knew that he already made up his mind.

* * *

 **Yeah, this chapter is mostly serious. But given the current arc, what can I say?** **Don't worry though, lightheartedness will come in several chapters! So stick around~**

 **Tell me how this turned out, is it bad? Or good? Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this.**

 **Oh well, leave some reviews, okay? Because they really help me!**


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